Lincoln vs Darwin Smackdown

[Mark1031]

So as we celebrate the birthday of these 2 historical figures I was wondering who you think was more historically significant (for the world as a whole).

Argument for Darwin. As a scientist my first reaction is of course Darwin by a mile. The mechanism of evolution by natural selection is probably the single most important insight in scientific history. Lincoln was just a politician from 1 country.

Argument for Lincoln. Well if Darwin wasn;t born it turns out that the ToE would have been articulated at almost exactly the same time in history by Wallace. In fact Darwin only published because he knew Wallace had the same idea. Like most things in science they are not dependent on a single individual but a progression of knowledge.

Lincoln on the other hand may have been uniquely suited to resolve the historical problems of the US and keep it together as a single country. If the US broke up what would have been the consequences for the western world?


Vote early and often

 

[El_Machinae]

I think Lincoln was more significant for the US. According to Expelled, WWII Nazis were only possible due to Darwin

 

[Dachs]

Voting Lincoln with my usual cavalier treatment of the role of science in alternate history.

 

[Godwynn]

There was a TIME poll on this.

Surprisingly, the Southern United States chose Lincoln.

The North was split pretty evenly.

 

[Yoda Power]

Linclon was really only siginficant for the US, while Darwin was for the whole world.

 

[Dachs]

Linclon was really only siginficant for the US, while Darwin was for the whole world.

Tsk. Dude, ain't you never thought about alternate history. What other politician in the United States would have been able to rise to the occasion? Would not an extant CSA vastly alter the progression of industrialization in the United States? Would not the runup to the First World War and the progression of the New Imperialism be vastly different without the United States to keep the Americas relatively free from European imperial squabbles?

....

 

[Godwynn]

Charles Darwin wins the popular vote, but Abraham Lincoln wins the Electoral College.

 

[Formaldehyde]

Lincoln had the reach. He would have finished Darwin off in Round 1.

 

[Munch]

I voted Darwin because he had balls. I like .. balls.

 

[Phlegmak]

If the North lost the Civil war, then it would have had impacts for Europe in WW1 and WW2, so Lincoln was not important to the US only.

 

[GoodGame]

Darwin was more important in the scheme of the world. Mendel came before him, but was the concept wasn't as broad or even seriously publicized. Darwin advanced science far and wide, even when society wasn't receptive to it.

Lincoln was very important for the US political system, as it wasn't just about ideological values, but about achieving stability in the government against internal disagreement. The split wasn't just North and South, but in all quarters of the country, and Lincoln had to sweat bullets to pull it all together.

Science > regional politics (even if it was regarding one of the more important countries in the world). Darwin wins by a mile.

 

[Masquerouge]

Let's see if we can make this poll as tied as the Alsace one

 

[Bigfoot3814]

Lincoln was taller, so he wins there.
Lincoln also wins in terms of balla-ass threads.
Darwin had a more awesome beard, so he's got that.
Lincoln preserved the union, which is cool.
Darwin did some great things for science even when it wasn't a popular thing to do.
Lincoln was killed by an assassin, which I think gives him cool points.
Lincoln also received an offer of war elephants from the king of Siam to help whip the rebels. That's cool to me.

So Lincoln wins in my book. Probably just because I know more useless trivia about Lincoln.

 

[Jan H]

I didn't even know about Lincoln's birthday, and Darwin's was all over the news yesterday, so I voted Darwin

 

[GoodGame]

I think Lincoln was more significant for the US. According to Expelled, WWII Nazis were only possible due to Darwin

IDK, but they probably were as due from WW1, the Great Depression, pan-Germanism, etc... 1930s Germans can be very proud and vengeful without claiming to have the best alleles.

 

[Miles Teg]

In terms of the people themselves, Lincoln wins. The Theory of Evolution would have suffered a setback of less than a decade, whereas it's seriously doubtful if anyone other than Lincoln could have held the union together.

In terms of their greatest legacy; IE Lincoln's preservation of the union vs Darwin's Theory of Evolution, Darwin wins, as the science it led to is far more important that US intervention in WWI or the industrialization of the US. Of course, the US was partly responsible for allot of the rapid technological development in the early 20th century, so it may be close.

 

[Formaldehyde]

I didn't even know about Lincoln's birthday, and Darwin's was all over the news yesterday, so I voted Darwin

That's interesting. I wonder how many other countries' presses ignored this remarkable coincidence.

EDIT: Never mind. I was being provincial. The US media would have likely not mentioned it if it was a European leader's birth date...

 

[Irish Caesar]

Darwin takes this one.

If we use the silly "remove each from history and see what happens," I think we need a better look at "USA without Lincoln."

Certainly Lincoln's influence on the US was enormous... but he was probably the only Republican candidate who could have been elected in 1860, and without that election result, nobody would have had to keep the Union together in the first place.

Ironically, it was Sen. Douglas who seemed to realize that (a) secession was likely and (b) he had no chance at all in the 1860 election, so he went on an extensive campaign for national unity.

 

[Annex]

 

[sonorakitch]

Charles Darwin wins the popular vote, but Abraham Lincoln wins the Electoral College.

And once again, Florida screwed it up and voted for Buchanan and the result is a grey mess.